Air Force

OTS shortens course length, increases efficiency

MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. (AFNS) — Beginning in January, the Air Force Officer Training School’s Basic Officer Training course will be shortened by three weeks, officials announced Dec. 4.

Cutting the course from 12 weeks to nine weeks was the result of finding efficiencies in the course’s scheduling processes and curriculum, said the OTS commandant.

“Our staff was able to adapt its operations and curriculum in several innovative ways to save money and Airmen’s time while still producing fully qualified and capable second lieutenants,” said Col. Thomas Coglitore. “We’ve also beefed up our total force academics in order for our trainees to better understand the cultures between the active, Reserve and Air National Guard components.”

The commandant said, shortening the course falls in line with Air Education and Training Command’s cost-conscious culture initiative, or C3, which challenges AETC units to seek more efficient ways of using available resources.

“By developing and delivering qualified second lieutenants in a new way, we preserve our resources,” he said.

Coglitore said estimated savings of about $1.9 million may be gained from the change.

“There is a potential for much larger savings as the result of the decreased course length and an increase in the number of classes offered annually by allowing for a more efficient training pipeline flow,” he said.

In fiscal 2012, OTS officials graduated 642 second lieutenants from its basic officer training course and are expected to graduate 1,055 new officers in fiscal 2013.

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